


Happy Birthday Indeed

by sailorkittycat



Category: British Actor RPF
Genre: Best Friends, Birthday, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Jealousy, actor!tom, secretly in love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-28
Updated: 2016-11-28
Packaged: 2018-09-02 21:44:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,075
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8684470
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sailorkittycat/pseuds/sailorkittycat
Summary: Tom is always there to celebrate his best friend Violet’s birthday with her but one year Tom misses her birthday and leaves Violet to wonder why she feels so sick without him. Is there something more to their friendship?





	

**Author's Note:**

> Based on the prompt 'Can you write a one shot or fic, where Tom and oc are best friends, but Tom forgets about her birthday cause he's been dating this girl, so he's excited about it, and the oc's really sad? I don't know, something angsty and fluffy lol.'

I’ve never been big on birthdays. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not that I don’t appreciate cake or presents but I’ve never woken up on the 26th of May and felt any tingles of birthday excitement. It’s frustrated my best friend Tom ever since we met.

“Why are you not excited? How are you not excited?”

“It’s just a birthday. It’s also National Blueberry Cheesecake Day but I don’t see you rushing down to Tesco in search of cake.”

We killed two birds with one stone that day; I blew out all twenty three candles on top of a blueberry cheesecake. We had made it a tradition since then and in all honesty, I may have not liked birthdays too much but I didn’t mind celebrating them as long as Tom was there. He made it fun. I’d actually look forward to my birthday because I knew that I would get to spend quality time with him. Sometimes we’d go to art museums or watch three films in a row at the cinema or go clubbing or all three. The sky was the limit.

Tom would usually start birthday talk a week or two prior to the big day but this time he didn’t. He spent our Saturday afternoon catch up session telling me about his new girlfriend, Scarlett.

“She’s got the most beautiful green eyes” he told me excitedly “they’re big and bewitching and just, the most perfect shade of emerald.”

“Wow, pretty” I said. I felt the oddest twisting sensation in my stomach but I didn’t let my smile falter. I started to feel a little self conscious of my boring brown eyes but I still listened intently to Tom.

“She’s so selfless; did I tell you about when she went to Tibet to go teach children English?”

“Tibet? Wow, that’s… remote.” Tom paused to sip at the tea I had made. I didn’t know why I was feeling like I was being stabbed with a dull knife but it was becoming unbearable to sit still. I shifted my position on the sofa a couple of times until Tom lifted an inquisitive eyebrow but I ignored it and tried to carry on the conversation “so what does she do for a living?”

“She’s an actress in the west end” he said proudly “you’ll meet her tonight.”

“I can’t wait” I said with a painted grin.

***

I really could wait, especially the way my stomach was feeling. I was making my way to the restaurant in Covent Garden where I was going to meet Tom and Scarlett.

“Violet” he greeted with a carefree grin, taking my hand and pulling me towards him, he looked me up and down and his tongue darted out to wet his lips “you always look so cute in this skirt.” He felt the fabric between his thumb and index finger like he always did and as always, I got goose bumps from the miniscule touch of his knuckles against my thigh. 

“It’s precious” Scarlett added. True to her name, she was dressed in a smouldering red dress which suddenly made me acutely aware of how casual I looked in my tartan skirt and blouse.

“I look severely underdressed compared to you guys” I said as we went to go take our seats. Scarlett looked like she was ready to dominate a catwalk and while Tom looked a little more casual in a white button up shirt and jeans; he still looked like he was model status. I, on the other hand looked like I was 12 and up past my bedtime.

“No, you look adorable. No arguments.” Tom insisted so I just opted to roll my eyes instead, earning a grin from Tom. When we had settled down at our table and ordered I realised how weird I felt. I was getting that strange pain in my stomach region again but I sipped at my water and hoped it would pass.

“It’s so great to meet you Violet” Scarlett said, starting off the conversation “Tom talks about you all the time.”

“All the time?” I repeated.

“What? N-no I don’t” Tom flustered. Why was he getting so muddled?

“Tom” Scarlett raised her perfect eyebrow “practically every story you tell me includes Violet.”

“Violet’s my best friend” he said with a small, shy smile aimed directly at me. There’s a pause. Tom clears his throat; Scarlett presses her lips together; I look down and focus on my socks. They are black and come up to my knees. I think we were all thankful when the waitress came with our food.

“So, Violet, what do you do for a living?” Scarlett asked, trying to diffuse the tension at the table. What a saint.

“I’m a travel journalist” I said, twisting the linguine on my fork.

“That’s so interesting! Have you been anywhere recently?”

“I went to Thailand earlier this year” I recalled “I like exploring Asia the most.”

“That’s an understatement” Tom chipped in “she used to cut out all the pictures of Asia from National Geographic magazines and stick them everywhere.”

“Shut up, I cut out pictures of others places too” I countered. The ache in my stomach was replaced with something lighter; the feeling was fluttery and warm, making my face feel flushed.

“Ah yes of course, my fondest memories include coming home to find pictures of Shanghai and Rio de Janeiro on our fridge” Tom chuckled. I met his gaze “remember?” The candle light illuminated certain parts of his face, enhancing the contours of his cheekbones and the blue of his eyes.

“Wait, you two lived together?” Scarlett interjected and I blinked back to reality.

“Back when we had no money” I explained.

“We had no money but plenty of dreams” Tom said causing sigh almost violently.

“Are you kidding me?” I groaned “that’s the cheesiest thing you said to date.”

“I know you secretly love it when I talk cheap” Tom winked, taking a sip of his wine.

I rolled my eyes and built up the confidence to ask Scarlett a question “Tom told me you spent a year in Tibet?”

“Oh yes, I used my gap year teaching children English. It was so rewarding.” She looked passionate about her charity work as she told me all about it and what a humbling experience it was. Tom looked at her with a mixture of admiration and tenderness, making the butterflies in my stomach turn into lead.

“So you must like travel too?” I said, casually taking several glugs of water in order to calm my sensitive stomach. Was it something I ate? I looked down at my half finished plate of seafood linguine.

“I love travelling, in fact, To-om?” She sang his name and he smiled in pure amusement.

“I have two tickets for us to go to Champagne region next weekend” she squealed. I stopped breathing momentarily. My blood felt like it was ice cold suddenly and my stomach. God, my stomach was killing me! I felt so nauseated that I could have vomited right there and then.

“Oh, my God, that’s amazing darling! I can’t wait!” Tom said and then right before me, in front of my very eyes, he moved his hand to her chin and lifted it guiding it closer to him and then. Then, he kissed her.

“Do excuse me for just a second” I said quickly, jumping up and ignoring Tom calling my name. I promptly threw up in the stupid, pristine toilet in the ladies. I stayed in the stall for a couple of minutes after that, blotting my tears and trying my best to breathe normally. My stomach didn’t just hurt, no; the rest of my body had the audacity to join in with the torture. I tried to think about what could have triggered such a disgusting display. Was it the food? But I’ve been feeling like this for a while now… Maybe I’m ill? I tried to concentrate on my symptoms but I kept thinking about Tom and Scarlett and their little, romantic getaway weekend.

Next week is my birthday…

“Violet?” I lifted my head, took a deep breath and walked out of the stall. It was Scarlett. She looked worried, crap she must have heard me. “Are you okay?” I wanted to burst into tears. No I’m really not o-fucking-kay.

“I’m fine” I lied, washing my hands.

“I heard you Violet, its okay” she rubbed her hand on my back in soothing circles like Tom would.

“It’s just my period” I fabricated “I get really bad stomach cramps.”

“Oh, I completely understand” Scarlett said with a kind, understanding smile “mine is awful too.” She waited patiently for me to finish washing and drying my hands all while telling me about remedies for period pains and instructing me to make sure I drink plenty of fluids and have a hot bath when I got home.

“The hot water really helps ease the pain.”

“Thanks, I’ll definitely do that” I said, knowing that she was completely right. A nice hot bath was a good call.

Tom was waiting anxiously for us back at the table. The waitress handed him back his credit card but he barely looked. His eyes were trained on me and as soon as he saw the red of my eyes (a dead giveaway that tears had been spilt) he jumped up and cradled my face in his hands.

“Are you okay?” he whispered and I nodded but his brow was still creased in worry.

“Poor lamb is not feeling well” Scarlett told Tom and his eyes frantically searched mine.

“Why didn’t you tell me you weren’t feeling well?” He insisted on holding me close beside him as we left the restaurant, as if I might be too weak to walk.

“I didn’t think it was such a big deal” I mumbled as he let go off me to look at me again as if he would be able to detect what had made me so ill.

“You’re not seriously thinking of taking the tube back are you?” Tom frowned at the oyster card in my hand.

“How else am I going to get home?” I said, glaring at him. Why do you even care?

“We could call your boyfriend” Scarlett suggested and Tom’s brow furrowed even more.

“What boyfriend? When did you get a boyfriend? Why didn’t you tell me?” He demanded.

“I don’t have a boyfriend” I said to Scarlett, ignoring Tom completely.

“Then I guess I’ll drop you off” Tom said, he sighed “I can’t let you go home by yourself when you’re ill.”

“Fine” I conceded. Tom seemed satisfied with that and led both Scarlett and I back to his car. I was all ready to sit in the back seat but both Tom and Scarlett insisted on me sitting up front. I spent the journey leaning my head against the glass of the window, listening to Tom and Scarlett talk. This is going to be the first birthday I’m going to spend alone in years. I can’t expect him to always be there to celebrate with me. He did it out of pity and now that he has Scarlett…I can’t even hate Scarlett, it’s not like she knew my birthday was coming up and she seems really nice. I wasn’t sure what was bothering me more, the fact that my best friend wouldn’t be there to celebrate my birthday with me or that he would be with his girlfriend instead of me. That’s just it, I’m bitter and jealous. When did my life come to this?

“I’ll come up with you” Tom said to me, although I barely heard what he had said because I was so wrapped up in my own thoughts.

“I hope you feel better soon” Scarlett wished.

“Thanks, it was nice meeting you” I said with a quick smile before leaving the car and following Tom. It was a silent lift ride up to my floor and Tom looked a little nervous when I peeked at him which was strange.

“This was fun” I said sarcastically when we got to my door.

“Great fun” Tom agreed “Um, Violet?”

“Yeah?” I twisted the key in my door and opened it.

“I just realised that next week is your birthday” I looked at him; he was giving me puppy eyes “you don’t mind terribly do you?” Do I mean nothing to you?

“I hate my birthday, its fine” I shrugged.

“I know you do but it feels wrong to leave you…”

“Why?” My voice came out louder than I had intended, taking him by surprise “Tom its okay, I get it. I have plenty of other friends anyway; I’ll go out and have a whale of a time with them. What does it matter if you’re not there?” The words tasted harsh and sour in my mouth but they came out regardless.

“Well… I guess if you really feel that way.” Tom looked down at his feet and stuck his hands in his pocket. He looked up at me and gave me a forced smile. “Bye Violet.”

“Bye Tom.”

***

When I woke up on the 26th of May it felt like anything but my birthday. Tom wasn’t there knocking on my door with hot chocolate and ingredients for French toast. He’s probably enjoying real French toast and bucks fizz with Scarlett. I thought to myself as I drew myself a hot bath. The warm water, that usually soothed me felt uncomfortable and needless to say, the relaxing birthday bath idea I had had went down the drain. Literally.

“I’ll have breakfast out” I announced to no one in particular. I didn’t know what I was trying to prove, especially as there was no one to prove it to but despite that, I got dressed and left my flat for a bite to eat. I got a coffee to go and a blueberry muffin and headed to the nearest bookshop. Books will cheer me up I thought, picking up a few to observe I bet Tom would like this one I smiled to myself, reading the blurb. No! I’ve got to stop thinking about him! I left the bookshop empty handed and instead decided that I should immerse myself in a movie.

The cinema had posters outside of it, telling you what they were showing and when. The nearest possible time was in ten minutes and was a National Theatre Live broadcast of Coriolanus. Are you kidding me? Seriously! I looked at the image of Tom on the edge of tears. “Why are you everywhere?” I hissed at him when he offered no answer I frowned harder “don’t give me that look; this is all your fault!” Oh, my God I’m going crazy… I slumped as I made my way home; this was obviously going to be a very happy birthday indeed.

***

What’s the best way to end a birthday? It starts with crying. Ordering pizza and then more crying. Here I was, sat on my bed wrapped in my duvet with a carton of cookie dough ice cream and tissues all around me. I had thrown up when I got home and now I was just a mess. I thought I could spend my birthday alone; what was the big deal? I miss Tom. I hated that I had to admit it but I did, I missed Tom. I wanted him here with me instead of in France with Scarlett. Everything felt royally messed up. I couldn’t hate Scarlett; Scarlett who was nothing but nice to me but seeing the way she’d look at Tom and vice versa absolutely destroyed me. Just remembering it was making my stomach churn. It was selfish and self centred and ridiculously hopeless but I was in love with my best friend and there was no way we’d ever get together. He was so enamoured with Scarlett, he’d probably never see me as anything more than a guest at his and Scarlett’s wedding.

The door distracted me from trying to think what Tom and Scarlett’s name together would be. Tarlett? Scom? Tomlett? It sounded as if someone was trying to get in with a key. That Mrs Fine is getting so old she actually thinks this is her door.

“Mrs Fine, I’m r-“ It wasn’t Mrs Fine who had opened the door, it was Tom.

“Violet, what are you doing here?” Tom asked, he looked just as shocked as me.

“What do you mean, what am I doing here? I live here. Where else would I be?”

“I thought you said you had plenty of other friends that you’d be celebrating with” he argued but he stopped when he saw how upset I looked “Violet?”

“I didn’t want to bother them” I said softly as he cupped my cheeks “I’m not even that close with them.”

“Oh” he wiped my tear away with his thumb “So you’ve been here all day? Alone?” I shrugged; I didn’t want to tell him about my failed outing and the reason I had to come home.

“Where’s Scarlett?” I asked, moving away from him to grab a tissue from the conveniently placed box.

“She’s home. Her home” he clarified “We uh, broke up.”

“What? Why?” I gasped.

“She said she couldn’t be with someone who was clearly in love with someone else.” I froze “she said there were no hard feelings and that she completely understood. She’s so selfless.”

“Tom?” I whispered, I could hardly get his name out of my mouth.

“I’m sorry I left you alone” he kissed my right cheek “I’m sorry I made you cry” he kissed my left cheek “I’m sorry I didn’t say I love you sooner” he leaned in to kiss me but hesitated when he realised I hadn’t said anything. “Violet? I-I’m sorry if you don’t feel the same way, it was presumptuous of me to think you did I-“ I interrupted his apology by finishing the kiss he had abandoned before pulling away to judge his reaction.

“You really love me?” I asked, not quite believing his words.

“Yes. I really love you” he said, kissing me again “Happy birthday, I’m sorry you’ve had such a terrible day” he gave me an Eskimo kiss, which made me giggle.

“I think your birthday present made up for it” I said.

“If you liked this one then just you wait until later tonight” he whispered suggestively in my ear.


End file.
